Evolution & Natural Selection

Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought  •  George C. Williams
NATURAL HISTORY •  1996 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES
A foundation in any Darwinist library, this classic essay first published in 1966 is an elegant argument for the significance of natural selection at the level of the individual organism. (NAT18, $29.95)
 
Alfred Russel Wallace, A Life  •  Peter Raby
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2002 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES
A re-evaluation of the man and his accomplishments as a traveler, scientist and intellectual. By the author of "Bright Paradise, Victorian Scientific Travelers," Raby is an appreciative, lively biographer who captures the tremendous spirit and energy of Wallace. Co-presenter with Charles Darwin of the original paradigm-shattering paper on natural selection, Wallace is here given his due as a great (if sometimes misguided) naturalist and collector. (MSA15, $26.95)
  Alfred Russel Wallace, A Life
Ancestral Passions, The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings  •  Virginia Morell
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1996 •  PAPER  • 640 PAGES
A biography of the Leakey family, documenting their discoveries and their vast contributions to the field of paleontology. Controversial, but dedicated to their science, the Leakeys have been instrumental in tracing human origins to East Africa. The book covers the lives and work of Richard, Louis and Mary as well as successive generations of the family. (EAF76, $38.95)
  Ancestral Passions, The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings
The Beak of the Finch  •  Jonathan Weiner
NATURAL HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 332 PAGES
An entire book about two biologists studying drab finches on a desert island? This Pulitzer Prize-winning work is an accessible look at the modern debate on the mode and rhythm of evolution-- using the story of Peter and Rosemary Grant and their field work on Daphne Major as an example. The Beak of the Finch is readable, illuminating and authoritative -- a classic example of great science writing. (GPS08, $16.00)
  The Beak of the Finch
Becoming Human, Evolution and Human Uniqueness  •  Ian Tattersall
NATURAL HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 258 PAGES
A cultural history of our tribe, Tattersall offers a wide-ranging, thought-provoking tour of human origins and culture from an anthropologist's point of view. His focus is, in part, on the human ability to represent the world in symbol and art. A curator in the department of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History and popular author, Tattersall is an opinionated, cultured guide to Homo sapiens. (NAT45, $15.95)
  Becoming Human, Evolution and Human Uniqueness
Bones of Contention, Controversies in the Search for Human Origins  •  Roger Lewin
NATURAL HISTORY •  1997 •  PAPER  • 366 PAGES
Tackling the giants. Lewin, a science writer who has worked with Richard Leakey, outlines the issues, debates and personalities in paleoanthropology this even-handed, fascinating account. (ATP05, $30.00)
  Bones of Contention, Controversies in the Search for Human Origins
The Causes of Evolution  •  John S. Haldane
NATURAL HISTORY •  1990 •  PAPER  • 222 PAGES
A reprint of the 1932 classic by the great geneticist, this book sparkles with Haldane's logic and rigor. It's a classic of science writing, still of great interest to those with an interest in population biology and evolution. (NAT17, $26.95)
 
Charles Darwin, The Power of Place  •  Janet Browne
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2003 •  PAPER  • 624 PAGES
The second half of Browne's magisterial history, full of insight into Victorian science. In this big, engrossing volume she follows the fate of Darwin, and his ideas, from the return of the voyage of the Beagle until his death. (GBR375, $27.95)
  Charles Darwin, The Power of Place
The Common but Less Frequent Loon and Other Essays  •  Keith Stewart Thomson
SCIENCE •  1996 •  PAPER  • 186 PAGES
The graceful occasional writings of biologist Keith S. Thomson, including a number of chapters that originally appeared in his regular column "Marginalia" in the American Scientist. As a columnist Thomson, also a Yale Alumni, follows in the distinguished footsteps of his eloquent colleague G. Evelyn Hutchinson. The essays are roughly divided into three sections: diversity, on being a scientists and evolution. With references and line drawings by Linda Price Thomson. (NAT59, $22.00)
 
Darwin and the Barnacle, the Story of One Tiny Creature and History's Most Spectacular Scientific Breakthrough  •  Rebecca Stott
NATURAL HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 336 PAGES
In this surprisingly wonderful book, Rebecca Stott tackles Darwin's early and important interest in -- barnacles! Returning from his mind-altering, five-year voyage around the world, Darwin devoted eight years to a systematic study of the perplexing pedunculated cirripedes (showing definitively that they were highly modified custaceans), both winning the respect of fellow researchers and setting the groundwork for his ideas about evolution through natural selection. Stott pleasurably interweaves biography and science, capturing Darwin's love of nature. (NAT65, $14.95)
  Darwin and the Barnacle, the Story of One Tiny Creature and History's Most Spectacular Scientific Breakthrough
Darwin and the General Reader: The Reception of Darwin's Theory of Evolution in the British Periodical Press, 1859-1872  •  Alvar Ellegard
HISTORY •  1990 •  PAPER  • 394 PAGES
Ellegard analyzes the impact of Darwin's theory of evolution during the first dozen years after the publication of the Origin of Species, drawing on over 100 British newspapers and literary and science periodicals. (NAT25, $35.00)
 
Darwin and the Science of Evolution  •  Patrick Tort
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2001 •  PAPER  • 144 PAGES • FAMILY
A pocket biography and social history of Darwin in the excellent "Discoveries" series featuring hundreds of archival photographs and a synopsis of his life and ideas by the French editor of the three-volume, 5,000 page dictionary of Darwin and evolution. It includes chapters on Darwin's early life, his five-year voyage aboard the Beagkle, and the developemnt of the theory of natural selection. (GPS54, $12.95)
  Darwin and the Science of Evolution
Darwin for Beginners  •  Jonathan Miller
HISTORY •  2003 •  PAPER  • 176 PAGES
The man and his ideas, presented in graphic cartoon style by the multi-talented Jonathan Miller. (NAT21, $14.00)
  Darwin for Beginners
Darwin on Evolution, The Development of the Theory of Natural Selection  •  Thomas F. Glick  •  Charles Darwin  •  David Kohn
SCIENCE •  1996 •  PAPER  • 350 PAGES
The editors, both historians of science, present excerpts from Darwin's many books in this choice reader on the development of the idea of evolution. (NAT103, $14.95)
 
Darwin's Armada, Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution  •  Iain McCalman
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2010 •  PAPER  • 432 PAGES
McCalman writes winningly of the lives, times and discoveries of Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley and Alfred Wallace. These younger champions of evolution were inspired by Darwin and, like him, set out to explore the antipodes. (NAT181, $18.95)
  Darwin's Armada, Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution
Darwin's Ghost, The Origin of Species Updated  •  Steve Jones
SCIENCE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 377 PAGES
A reworking of the "Origin of Species" by a popular science writer, making good use of the original chapter headings and structure of Darwin's 1859 bestseller -- and incorporating what we've learned since, regarding the origin of species by means of natural selection. (NAT33, $17.00)
  Darwin's Ghost, The Origin of Species Updated
Darwin, Discovering the Tree of Life  •  Niles Eldredge
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 288 PAGES
A companion book to an exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History (November 19, 2005 - May 29, 2006), this richly illustrated celebration of Darwin, his life and ideas, brings together manuscripts, artifacts and materials collected by Darwin aboard the Beage with curator Eldredge's illuminating essays on natural selection. (NAT82, $35.00)
  Darwin, Discovering the Tree of Life
Darwin, The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist  •  Adrian Desmond  •  James Moore
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1994 •  PAPER  • 808 PAGES
An influential, vividly written biography of Darwin. (GEN13, $23.95)
 
The Darwinian Revolution, Science Red in Tooth and Claw  •  Michael Ruse
NATURAL HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 346 PAGES
A classic of modern evolutionary thought synthesizes Darwin's thinking -- and the profound effect it has had on scientific inquiry from 1830-1875. Ruse , a professor of zoology and philosophy, sets the context for prevailing ideas in Darwin's youth, painting in detail the revolution fueled by publication of "On the Origin of Species." Originally published in 1979, the author provides a new afterword for this edition. (HSC09, $27.50)
  The Darwinian Revolution, Science Red in Tooth and Claw
Darwinism and Its Discontents  •  Michael Ruse
SCIENCE •  2008 •  PAPER  • 326 PAGES
A historian and philosopher, Ruse lays out the facts of evolution along with the mechanism, challenges, science and philosophy in this articulate appreciation and overview of " the single best idea anyone has ever had." This book, based in part on a lecture series, synthesizes many decades of work by Ruse. (SCI164, $22.00)
  Darwinism and Its Discontents
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex  •  Charles Darwin
SCIENCE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 864 PAGES
Darwin's great work on human evolution, published to much controversy in 1871. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction by Adrian Desmond. (NAT87, $18.00)
 
Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches  •  Peter R. Grant  •  Jonathan Weiner
NATURAL HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 492 PAGES • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE
A scholarly, readable account of Grant's comprehensive study of Darwin's finches, including a forward by Jonathan Weiner (who wrote "Beak of the Finch") and an update by Peter Grant -- who has devoted his life's work to the evolution and ecology of these curious Galapagos birds. For those not put off by charts and tables and the language of population ecology, it's a fascinating book and an excellent example of a long-term ecological study. A volume in "Princeton Science Library" and modern classic of evolution first published in 1986. With 20 color illustrations. (GPS44, $41.00)
  Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches
Ecology, A Pocket Guide  •  Ernest Callenbach
NATURAL HISTORY •  2008 •  PAPER  • 175 PAGES
The updated, 10th-anniversary edition of this handy reference has new sections on biotechnology, global warming and other essential topics. (NAT157, $15.95)
  Ecology, A Pocket Guide
Endless Forms Most Beautiful, The New Science of Evo Devo and The Making of the Animal Kingdom  •  Sean B. Carroll
SCIENCE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 368 PAGES
Evolutionary developmental biology explained by a leader in the field. (SCI177, $16.95)
 
Ever Since Darwin, Reflections in Natural History  •  Stephen Jay Gould
NATURAL HISTORY •  2007 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES
In these delightful essays, enormously well infomed, thoughtful and a joy to read, Gould effortlessly explicates the wonders of evolution. His essay on Darwin's theory of evolution is utterly dead-on. (NAT15, $15.95)
  Ever Since Darwin, Reflections in Natural History
Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, And Sexuality in Nature And People  •  Joan Roughgarden
SCIENCE •  2009 •  PAPER  • 484 PAGES
Citing as evidence the sexual diversity found among birds, reptiles, fish and mammals, Roughgarden argues against traditionally held concepts of gender in the natural world and challenges the biases of conventional biology. (SCI206, $24.95)
 
Evolution's Workshop  •  Edward J. Larson
SCIENCE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES
A vivid history of the Galapagos -- and the role of the islands as a crucible of evolutionary ideas. Along with Darwin, it covers the discovery of the islands, the visits of Hancock and Beebe, the influence of the United States during WWII and the establishment of the national park. Pulitzer Prize-winning Larson, a historian of science, has also written about the Scopes trial (Summer for the Gods) and the creationist controversy in the United States (Trial and Error). (GPS50, $16.95)
  Evolution's Workshop
Evolution, The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory  •  Edward Larson
NATURAL HISTORY •  2006 •  PAPER  • 368 PAGES
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and historian Edward Larson examines the multifaceted history of the scientific theory which has had such an impact on twentieth century thought. Larson begins his study before Darwin, with the scientific breakthroughs of the French Revolution, and then examines Darwin's work and its effects, from the age of Social Darwinism up to present day genetics and evolutionary studies. He focuses on the social and political controversies that have surrounded evolutionary theory, particularly in the United States. (NAT64, $14.95)
  Evolution, The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
Evolution, The Triumph of an Idea  •  Carl Zimmer
SCIENCE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 487 PAGES
The companion book to the PBS series of the same name. It's an excellent, concise overview of the history and concepts of evolution, clearly written and well illustrated. (SCI155, $15.99)
 
Extinct Humans  •  Ian Tattersall  •  Jeffrey Schwartz
ARCHAEOLOGY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES
An illustrated overview of the origin of our species, rewarding for both the scholar and interested general reader. Tattersall and Schwartz, as knowledgeable as anyone with the six-million-year hominid fossil record, explore the history of our species in this masterly synthesis of archaeological discovery. It features good color photographs of key evidence. (NAT46, $30.00)
  Extinct Humans
From Lucy to Language  •  Donald Johanson  •  Blake Edgar
ARCHAEOLOGY •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 288 PAGES
A strikingly illustrated survey of hominid evolution, featuring stunning color photographs of significant fossils, tools, and cave art, revised, updated and expanded for this second edition. Nearly all the early hominid remains are photographed in full color, mostly at actual size. Johanson supplies the concise, admirably clear accompanying text. (EAF85, $65.00)
  From Lucy to Language
From So Simple a Beginning, Darwin's Four Great Books  •  Charles Darwin  •  E.O. Wilson
SCIENCE •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 1504 PAGES
A beautifully presented omnibus edition, in a slipcase, of the Voyage of the Beagle, Origin of Species, Descent of Man, and the Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, each with an introductory essay by E.O. Wilson. (NAT83, $39.95)
  From So Simple a Beginning, Darwin's Four Great Books
Headless Males Make Great Lovers and Other Unusual Natural Histories  •  Marty Crump
NATURAL HISTORY •  2007 •  PAPER  • 199 PAGES
A collection of essays celebrating the many interesting and just plain weird ways of evolution, including the titular essay on the reproductive strategy of the male preying mantis. Crump is an engaging writer, conveying both the wonder and science of sexual selection, raising young, avoiding predators, feeding and communication. Her examples are outstanding. (NAT90, $14.00)
  Headless Males Make Great Lovers and Other Unusual Natural Histories
The Human Career, Human Biological and Cultural Origins  •  Richard G. Klein
NATURAL HISTORY •  2009 •  HARD COVER  • 810 PAGES
An overview of human evolution, first published in 1989, and now substantially revised to reflect the current understanding of paleoanthrolopology. It's a popular textbook for university courses. (AFR74, $75.00)
  The Human Career, Human Biological and Cultural Origins
Inherit the Wind  •  Jerome Lawrence  •  Robert E. Lee
LITERATURE •  1982 •  PAPER  • 129 PAGES
A classic drama of a biology teacher accused of teaching evolution to his students, based on the events of the 1925 Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. (USS180, $5.99)
  Inherit the Wind
Lowly Origin: Where, When, and Why Our Ancestors First Stood Up  •  Jonathan Kingdon
NATURAL HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 408 PAGES
In this provocative book the ever-erudite, entertaining Jonathan Kingdon tackles bipedalism, a significant step in the evolution of our species. Written for a popular audience, Kingdon, both in sparkling prose and with his own original drawings, presents the evolutionary and ecological history of walking. With 55 black-and-white drawings. 16 line illustrations. two tables and 22 maps. Highly recommended. (ATP16, $57.50)
 
Lucy's Legacy, The Quest for Human Origins  •  Donald Johanson
SCIENCE •  2010 •  PAPER  • 309 PAGES
Paleoanthropologist Johanson explores the breakthrough findings since the 'Lucy' skeleton was unearthed in his follow up to Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. (ATP21, $15.00)
  Lucy's Legacy, The Quest for Human Origins
Lucy's Legacy, The Quest for Human Origins  •  Donald Johanson
SCIENCE •  2010 •  PAPER  • 309 PAGES
Paleoanthropologist Johanson explores the breakthrough findings since the 'Lucy' skeleton was unearthed in his follow up to Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. (ATP21, $15.00)
  Lucy's Legacy, The Quest for Human Origins
Lucy, The Beginnings of Humankind  •  Maitland Armstrong Edey  •  Donald Johanson
ARCHAEOLOGY •  1990 •  PAPER  • 409 PAGES
The original, influential account of the development of human evolution and, especially, of the thrilling discovery of Lucy in 1974. It includes an account of the four field seasons in Hadar, Ethiopia from 1967-1977. (ATP06, $17.00)
  Lucy, The Beginnings of Humankind
The Making of the Fittest, DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution  •  Sean B. Carroll
SCIENCE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 288 PAGES
Carroll shows, in elegant detail, how changes in DNA demonstrate evolution by natural selection. (SCI176, $17.95)
 
Monkeyluv, and Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals  •  Robert M. Sapolsky
SCIENCE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 20224 PAGES
An elegant, entertaining collection of 18 short essays by our favorite neurobiologist. The gifted Sapolsky, a professor at Stanford who mostly studies baboons, is a spirited, witty guide to understanding evolution, what makes us what we are, the interaction between genes and environment, the limits of knowledge and other big questions, all of which he tackles with humor and deft prose. These chapters originally appeared in Natural History, The Sciences, Discover and other magazines. (ATP17, $15.00)
  Monkeyluv, and Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals
On Natural Selection  •  Charles Darwin
SCIENCE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 128 PAGES
Darwin's original essay on evolution presented in tandem with a paper by Alfred Russel Wallace to the Linnean Society on July 1, 1858. This is a book in Penguin's gorgeously produced Great Ideas series. (NAT84, $11.00)
  On Natural Selection
The Plausibility of Life, Resolving Darwin's Dilemma  •  Marc W. Kirschner  •  John Gerhart
SCIENCE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 336 PAGES
A lucid explanation of the evolution of diversity of life on Earth and, in particular, the relation between natural selection and development. (NAT121, $18.00)
 
Reluctant Mr. Darwin, An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution  •  David Quammen
NATURAL HISTORY •  2007 •  PAPER  • 304 PAGES
David Quammen hits just the right note in this sprightly tale of the man, his ideas and their impact. Not just a marvelous and witty writer with a conversational style, Quammen (Flight of the Iguana, Song of the Dodo, etc.) also has an uncanny ability, in full display in this extended essay, to express complex ideas with clarity. (NAT94, $14.95)
  Reluctant Mr. Darwin, An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution
The Structure of Evolutionary Theory  •  Stephen Jay Gould
SCIENCE •  2002 •  HARD COVER  • 1464 PAGES
The final effort of the late Stephen Jay Gould, a monumental effort to summarize evolutionary thought. (NAT60, $62.50)
 
The Theory of Island Biogeography  •  E.O. Wilson  •  Robert MacArthur
SCIENCE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES
Wilson and MacArthur's landmark essay on the ecology and evolution of island species is not just for tropical ecologists, it's also fascinating for the general reader. A classic of theoretical ecology (and chock full of math), the authors also put forth their arguments in clear, captivating prose. (SCI203, $55.00)
 
Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Search for the Origins of Behavior  •  Jonathan Weiner
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2000 •  PAPER  • 199 PAGES
An engrossing scientific biography of Seymour Benzer, the fruit-fly geneticist who has done much to further our understanding of molecular biology. Jonathan Weiner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Beak of The Finch, combines interviews and reporting with an uncanny ability to write clearly about complex science. (HSC12, $16.00)
  Time, Love, Memory:  A Great Biologist and His Search for the Origins of Behavior
Why Darwin Matters, The Case Against Intelligent Design  •  Michael Shermer
SCIENCE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES
A primer on evolution by natural selection. (SCI178, $14.99)
 

 
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